Apex predator
by NuclearBurrito
Summary: A sociopathic Mindreading badass from a strange world ends up in Rubys body and goes on a quest for power.
1. chapter 1

Nerreration/MC thoughts

"Speaking"

 _Other people's thoughts_

Text

I--I

How did I get here? I'm in some kind of store looking at comics with (fairly good) music playing in my ears. I feel kinda strange too but I don't think I could describe how.

 _Does this girl want to die or something!? I mean seriously! Don't just ignore someone trying to rob you!_

I close my eyes. Let's see here... He has a black suit, red tie, red tinted glasses and a fucking sword. Who even uses those anymore? Anyways it seems like there are others dressed like him. Hmm... Is seems I am wearing a red cloak, my cloak is black so it isn't mine.

He reaches out to touch me. I duck down and grab the hand, fliping him over me in the process. The sword goes flying out of his grasp. I backflip and snatch it out of the air. When I land he is already getting up so I rush him. I stab slightly to his right, he dodges into the blade and I stab him in the face. For some reason that isn't enough so I slash him in the stomach and then to finish him off I decapitate him. Now what to do about the other men?

 _What was that!? OH GOD JOHNS DEAD!_

Great they see me. And this one has an actual gun too. I throw my sword into the the barrel of his gun right as he fires it. This causes the gun to blow up and the sword to fall. I slide to where it is falling and pick it up again. A few seconds later and I got my second kill. This time however they all noticed and started to charge me except the one in the white coat, he must be the leader.

I jump onto the heads of one of the suited men and leap over them. The white man pulls out his cane and points it at me like it is a gun.

 _I'ma blow this little shit to pieces. Can have someone like her getting in my way. Cinder wouldn't like that now would she?_

 _Ok so it's some kind of grenade launcher built into a cane. That's actually pretty clever._

I flip upside down and push off the ceiling doing a roll when I land. He immediately started running when he saw that I was going to get to him. I chase him up some latter's. When we reach the top of the building some kind of airship is waiting for him. He jumps in and I jump in after him. He seems surprised at this. Did he really expect me to just stop?

 _God damit this kid won't leave me alone!_

I start a downward strike but switch to a side swipe when he brings his cane up to parry. He drops the cane which I pick up. I start attacking him with a furry of blows ending with a stab in the heart. Anyways did the pilot not notice that I'm here too? Oh she's just wearing headphones. Kinda like me actually! It is good music after all.

I walk up to the cockpit and sit down in the copilot seat next to the girl piloting the ship. She looks at me breifly but she is too lost in thought about her plans to get magical powers. I'd ask to be a part of it (cuz I want magic power too) but then I would have to explain how I learned of thier plans.

 _Wait a second that's not one of my men!_

Finally! She noticed! Now be a good girl and land the plane so you can fight me.

Suddenly an explosion hit the ship. I step out to the (still open) Hull and see a woman with some kind of wand and a cape.

 _That girl is in danger! I have to get her ou- wait why is she in the hull like that!?_

The airship turns to face her and lowers a bit. Perfect! I jump off and stand next to the woman.

"Hey"

Her face turns red as she looks at me. She's pissed. I hide my sword in my cloak, take a step back and put my hands out.

"Woah! Calm down! Everythings fine so there is no reason to get worked up about it!"

She stops looking anger at me but deep down she still is. Also I'm now realizing that this isn't my face. I must have been soul-swaped. Neat.

"Just come with me"

She grabs my hand and we start walking. Eventually we reach what looks like some kind of an interagation room. The woman who I learn is called Goodwitch starts talking to me.

"I cannot believe you did something like that! You could have gotten yourself and those around you killed!"

"I had that under control I'll have you know. And if by those around me you ment the guys attacking me then maybe they SHOULD be killed!"

"That's another thing! I saw 2 decapitated body's in that store! Don't you know that you should avoid lethal force whenever possible!?"

She pauses

"Now. As much as I would love to give you a piece of my mind there is someone else that wants to speak to me."

 _She's all yours Ozpin. I hope you see something in her that I don't._

She leaves the room and another man enters with a plate of cookies. He must be Ozpin.

"Ruby Rose."

He leans in.

"You have... Silver eye's"

 _I haven't seen a silver eyed warrior in decades_

"Hi. I see you already know me?"

I take a bite out of one of the cookies. It's pretty good! Anyways if this person knows who I am supposed to be then I should probably not do anything to make him suspect me. Shouldn't be hard, I've got enough experience for this.

"Yes that's right. I know lots of people I'll have you know."

 _Damn. That actually makes this harder. I can't call her out on things she knows I know. Oh well, I wanted to have fun with this conversation. I guess I'll get straight to the invitation then._

"So Ruby. Do you know who I am?"

 _She should know who the headmaster is. She has been wanting to go to Beacon for awhile now._

"You're Ozpin. The headmaster at beacon."

"Do you want to join my school?"

"Yes! I do!"

That's what he expects of my so I should play along. I wonder what's so special about this school anyway? More importantly what can I get out of it? I'm far more interested in whatever Cinder has planned then going to a goddamn school. Oh well

I~~~~~~I

 **At the end of each chapter there will be a segment talking about the MC's background, skills or Ability's.**

 **Background - Mindreading:**

 **The MC has the ability to read the thoughts of everyone around her. This Ability is passive and cannot be turned off. She has gotten used to it so this doesn't bother her at all.**

 **She can also do 2 other things with it by focusing a bit:**

 **1: She can perceive anything those around her can perceive. This lets her basically see through walls and is how she saw her own face.**

 **2: She can instantly understand meaning rather than just the words. This lets her learn new languages on the fly and is how she can understand everything dispite them not actually speaking English (this isn't earth afterall).**

 **Mind reading is not a semblance as the MC does not have Aura and it is not Magic either. It is uneffected by the weaknesses of either as a result of this.**


	2. Chapter 2

After I was accepted into Beacon I was let out. I took a moment to check what I had on me. Let's see here:

The sword.

A smartphone.

A credit card.

A gun?

I examine the gun that was strapped to my back. I wish I knew about this earlier. There are a bunch of buttons on it. I make sure no one is around me. Turns out there was someone near by. He wasn't watching me or anything but I don't want him to hear the shot so I walk away until I am the only one that would hear anything.

Making sure the front of the gun is away from me I start pushing buttons starting with the main trigger. The gun fires with about 35J of recoil. That's quite a bit but I hold it no problem somehow. It seems there is more to this body than I realized.

The next 2 buttons were normal enough. One toggled the safety and one ejected the magazine on the bottom. There was also a pump along the side that cleared the chamber between shots. The last button however made no sense. It turned the gun into a fucking Scythe! At least a sword is good at what it does. Unfortunately this is probably Rubys weapon of choice so I'm going to have to get used to it if I want to keep those who know her from getting too suspicious. I'm going to try and gradually start using it's gun mode more however compared to Ruby. If I do it right it will seem like Rubys fighting style just changed a bit rather than something drastic happening.

Seeing as I am alone I spend the next few hours practicing with the Scythe mode.

I~~~~~~I

Ozpin had arranged for an airship to take me to beacon before the day was over. He was already planning on moving me up so he was prepared. I wasn't sure how to get home in order to pack. Luckily for me my smart phone which I learned is called a scroll did. I ditched the sword on the way home.

Once I got home I ran into my dad. With faux excitement I tell him about Ozpin accepting me into Beacon.

"Great job Ruby! When do you leave?"

"Today actually. I'm going to pack up real quick. The airship will take me there soon."

I run upstairs without waiting for a reply. There are 3 doors upstairs. 1 of them is a bathroom and the other 2 are bedrooms. One of the bedrooms has pictures of Ruby so that's probably my room. I look around the room and pack everything I would need.

I~~~~~~I

Getting to the airship that's taking us to Beacon wasn't hard. Ozpin sent me the location on my scroll. When I got there is was moderately crowded but the ships were designed to handle far more people than that.

I tested my arms on the hand rails looking out the windows. Other people seemed to be gawking at the view. Personally I was unimpressed, I've seen some amazing sights. Living in a spaceship would let you do that.

 _Wait is that Ruby!? What is my little sis doing here!_

I walk up to the girl. So she's my sister? Better tell her what's going on.

"Hey sis! Guess what!? Ozpin himself decided to move me up 2 years! I'm going to be going to beacon with you!"

She froze up for a second to prossess what I just said before running up and hugging me.

"Oh my God that's amazing!!! I can't believe my little sis is coming to beacon with me!"

I push her away slightly to get out of the hug. She's strong that's for sure. Nothing I can't handle however if push comes to shove. A holoscreen appears with the news reporting the robbery I stopped. Aperently it was a dust shop (whatever that's supposed to mean). The 3 guys I ignored when chasing thier leader were stopped by Glynda according to the reporter. It briefly mentioned a group called The white fang before being inturupted by Glyndas hologram. I didn't really care about what she had to say. I sat quietly for the rest of the trip.

I~~~~~~I

Everyone ran out of the airship at once when we docked. One guy barfed immediately. What a loser. When we stepped outside my "sister" who she let slipped was called Yang decided I needed talking to about friendship.

"Now Ruby. I know you want to be with me as long as possible but you need to make some friends of your own."

"Ok then. Sounds good"

"...what?"

Clearly she was expecting some pushback. Still, this wasn't big enough that acting out of line would be a problem. Getting connections now benefits me in the long run and I will not let her low expectations stop me.

"In fact I think I'm going to start with that white haired girl over there!"

I walk up to a white haired girl and examine the crates that she is transporting.

"Hi there! What's in the crates?"

 _Who is this girl? She's looking at me like she doesn't know who I am. I'm Wiess for crying out loud! I'm on TV and everything!_

Oh? A famous rich girl? I think I will pretend not to know her like that. These types of people secretly love that.

"These crates are full of highly volitile Dust! I do NOT want to see you messing around with them. I would prefer to leave without any crators being made."

I could see that this wasn't dust that you would find in your home. Even without mindreading dust doesn't explode. No, what she's talking about is elemental dust. Unfortunately walking up and talking to her made us get behind the crowd.

 _I'm finally here. Now all I need to do I make sure no one can see my ears and I'm safe. No one will judge me and I can leave everything behind._

An atonner? Perfect! That means I can blackmail her if I need to and befriend her easily if I don't. I turn around and walk up to the newcomer.

"Hi I'm Ruby Rose! Nice to meet you!"

She accepts my handshake and smiles.

"Blake Belladonna. It's a pleasure."

I try and focus on her. Besides the ears just what is she hiding? Unfortunately she isn't thinking about it at the moment. What I do find out is that whatever it is isn't just the ears. Are cat people common here? Whatever I'll just look up her name later to see if I find anything.

I walk to the auditorium where everyone has gathered for what is most likely the most borring speach I've ever heard.

Thank you for disappointing me Ozpin.

I~~~~~~I

 **Background - Juno Terra**

 **The name of the MC is Juno Terra. She is 43 but looks in her 20s due to life extension technology. She works for a small but powerful group called The Apex Company as an assassin and an informat. She is known to everyone else as the most dangerous person alive as no one outside the Company knows about her mindreading powers.**

 **Her weapon's of choice are pistols and Gauntlets. She owns an equipment set called Pulsar gear. It includes heavy metal Gauntlets and boots. The Gauntlets can retract into a bracelet much like Yangs weapons. What makes them Special is that the equipment can make a small forcefield disk a few inches Infront of the gear. In addition to being used as a forcefield it can also be shot out as a pulse to launch herself or her foes. This is how it got it's name. It can also be used as a blade if you use the side of the field.**

 **The gun and gauntlets also have an electricution effect on them that makes her attacks shrouded. This means she can easily defend herself from mage's if need be.**

 **While she isn't a master engineer she does know how to fabricate some things. Spacificaly she can make regular gauntlets, simple shrouds and also grapplehooks and some grenades.** **Hanging around with scientists and engineers rubbed off on her a bit which is why she can do all of that.**

 **Beyond that she isn't super human.**

 **Her main advantages are:**

 **1: Technological superiority (null in Reminent)**

 **2: Peak athletic Ability's (outclassed by hunters who are superhuman like Ruby)**

 **3: Mindreading**

 **4: Lots and lots of skill. When I say lots I mean lots.**


	3. Interlude 1: Apex headcourters

Interlude 1:

"jack..."

"JACK"

 **"JACK WAKE UP!!!"**

I wake with a start. I see Sarah in front of me. The little Witch was panicking.

"I'm up! What is it? Computer, get me some coffee."

Understood

Ah the convinces of the 22nd century. I drink my coffee and let the girl speak.

"Juno is brain dead! Someone killed her!"

I give Sarah a blank start

"Very funny. Now given that you wouldn't wake me up just to tell a joke you better have something important to say."

Juno? Dead? Impossible. That girl would survive hell itself without a scratch even at her weakest. And this ship is a moving fortress that can teleport. The shrouds alone would make this one of the most heavily defended locations in the known universe.

"Jackson I'm serious! Look just let me show you"

She dragged me to Juno's room. When we entered her body was there with an MRI scanner on her head displaying a no input error. I could see why Sarah was so worried. I run up ahead of her and lift up Juno's head. It's far too light, something about it is very very off. I pull out my combat knife.

"JACKSON NO!"

"Sarah calm down. I need to confirm my suspicions. If I'm wrong it won't be anything we can't fix."

I use the knife to cut a slit into her skull. I try and lightly poke at the brain but there was nothing there. Her brain wasn't just dead. It was removed.

"Computer. Order for the searching of everyone who could have done this. I swear I'll find out what happened."

Understood

I~~~~~~I

 **Short chapter but it was made on the same day as the last one so you shouldn't be too mad. This is the start of a side plot and will not be the focus of the main plot with Juno and her shinanigins until they find her.**

 **Background - Shrouds**

 **Shrouding technology is one of the meny things invented by the Apex Company. It works because Magic and Aura both interact with a specific frequency of electricity. Using a decent voltage you can effectively push those energy's out of a person thus not letting them us it and also it temporarily disabled it's current effects.**

 **This is used extensively for countering mage's but does nothing to stop Juno's mindreading.**

 **Less dense versions can be used to track magic instead of stopping it.**


	4. Chapter 3

After Ozpins shockingly short speach we all went to the ballroom. Since we didn't have our dorms yet we were sleeping there. Yang was happy about it because she got to sleep with the boy's. She excitedly sat down next to where I was setting up.

"This is just like a slumber party!"

"Heh. I guess it is isn't it?"

"So did you make any new friends? How did it go with that white chick?"

"It didn't really last too long so I didn't learn anything about her. I think it went well though. I also met another girl called Blake. She was a bit nicer"

She smiled and looked away.

 _I can't believe Ruby is doing such a good job at making friends! This is AMAZING!!!_

Her attitude about this is perfect. She's glad that I'm improving and that works in my favor as I can brush little personally differences aside as simply maturing.

I~~~~~~I

The next morning was pretty hectic. Get up. Eat. Get dressed with our equipment. Go outside. Everyone was thinking about teams that we were getting today. I'm guessing I just missed the explanation on that because I came here early.

Outside there was a line of launch pads over a mountain. Ozpin and Glynda were standing there. Ozpin was feeling very excited for this but didn't show it.

 _I can't wait to see the look on those kid's faces when I tell them how the teams are picked!_

Oh? How would that be? Ah, eye contact and chess pieces. Got it, so it's basically random for everyone that isn't me. I however am well equipped to find others with ease. Not that I know who I want at the moment. Probably Wiess or Blake. Wiess because she has money and power and Blake because I can easily manipulate or befriend her depending on the situation.

Ozpin explained how the teams were formed. He was right about the awesome reaction everyone would have. The other students were freaking out internally and Ozpin knew it. It was beautiful!

He told that we would be launched into the forest and we're tasked with finding artifacts. By artifacts of course he ment chess pieces naturally. Although he didn't tell everyone partners that got the same piece would be on the same team.

We all got ready except for one scrub who faked his way in here. I would be happy about the blackmail material if he didn't seem too incompetent to be useful in anyway.

Aaaaaand I'm off! The trick to landing from high heights is to make as much of your momentum horizontal as possible. Using the Scythe I can swing of tree branches to accomplish such a thing. The large recoil can be used as well. I could tell Weiss was nearby so I fire a few shots to go in her direction.

Let's see... Super close to the ground so roll. Nice now run up and backflip of that tree Infront of me and Bam! Successful landing achieved! I turn around to see Wiess and make sure to lock eyes with her.

"Hey there partner! I never did get your name last time. I'm Ruby Rose!"

She still couldn't believe I didn't know her.

"Wiess Shnee. Don't forget it! Now let's just get this over with."

I nodded my head and ran off in the direction of the artifacts. The Grimm I encountered would be a real challenge for me given how much is stacked against me. I'm using an unfamiliar weapon against an unfamiliar and mindless enemy with an unfamiliar body on an unfamiliar world. Needless to say I did not have a real plan. Not that I was worried or anything. I wasn't the most dangerous person alive by relying on anything. I've dealt with robots before after all.

It didn't take long at all before I finally ran into a pack of Grimm. They all rushed me at once. First thing I did was shoot one of them in the head with the sniper rifle. Then I sliced up one of thier faces with the Scythe mode while jumping out of the way of the other 2. While in the air I started getting the scythe spinning and got a feel for how fast it was. I fired a few shots at the heads of the remaining Grimm finishing them off. All of this was in a few seconds before Wiess could even get there.

"Seriously? You just ran off without your partner!? Your going to get yourself killed!"

"Am I? I'm pretty sure I can take care of myself so don't worry about it ok Weiss?"

She grumbled and walked past me. This time I walked with her to show her I listened. I thought back to the Grimm I just fought. There was some kind of whispering coming from them. It was all gibrish with no real meaning but it was exactly the same from all of them. Was there some kind of hivemind? I couldn't be sure unless a command was sent through the connection. There was always a chance they synced up through other methods but it seemed unnecessary if it wasn't to communicate and they weren't thinking during the fight or anything.

While the chance of them being part of a hivemind was interesting, more useful was that I could use that to sense where nearby Grimm were. At the moment there wasn't any of them near enough to matter so I wasn't worried. Not that I would have been otherwise.

It wasn't long before we reached a small Clif. I could see the temple containing the relics and also a Grimm bird that Weiss identified as a Nevermore that was heading right for us. I jumped off the cliff and started to run. It wasn't a big drop. It was only 3 meters so I was fine and didn't even need to roll.

Wiess having seen the same thing I did ran with me. We reached the artifacts in time to see Yang and Blake there too. There were others close behind and we weren't the first ones to get there anyway as some pieces were missing. I grabbed a white Knight piece and Yang took the other one. I ran past everyone once I did without waiting for them to get their pieces. I saw the ones that matter, I knew what my team would be and that was all I needed to know. Now to make sure Ozpin thought I could lead it.

The Nevermore turned around and charged us having quickly noticed us running under it. I closed my eyes and took stock of those around me, taking note of the tools and Ability's they were considering using. My eyes suddenly opened

"Blake. Pull it's wings down with your grapplehook guns. Yang be ready to jump on it and hit it really hard. Wiess I need to you freeze it to the ground when it gets here. I'll decapitate it once it's weakened by Yang."

They all nod and move to execute my plan. Blake throws her guns which go a bit past the Nevermore's wings before she makes them fire forcing the bird Grimm to the ground. When it hits the Nevermore gets encased in a block of Ice preventing it from moving for a second although it is quickly breaking out. Before it can however Yang jumps up. I run to the Nevermore's head and spin my Scythe fireing it when it's pointed down below the Grimms head right as Yang hits it causing its head to pop off from the force.

 _Wow that actually worked. I can't believe it._

Well Wiess is definitely surprised. Blake is more worried about how I knew how her weapon's worked and Yang was just plan old impressed.

 _If she knew about Gambit shroud then what else does she know about me? She might even know about my history with the white fang! If I'm found out who knows what would happen! I need to be careful around her._

Ok so I will need to fix that at some point. In the meantime I need to finish initiation as fast as possible. The Nevermore is dead so for now we have a clear path back where we came. We all ran back to the cliffs clearing out the lesser Grimm we ran into. It was smooth sailing the whole way as the other hunters were dealing with the only other big Grimm. We got back to where we needed to and finished initiation.

I~~~~~~I

The awards ceremony was borring. I paid attention anyway because it gave me the teams and the leader's. It was just the fastest way to find out. When we were called up and named team RWBY I already knew I was leader even without mindreading. The pattern was obvious and it shocked me no one else got it immediately.

In anycase I accomplished my goal for now. I just needed information on what Cinder is after, how she plans to get it, and how I can take it myself.

I~~~~~~I

 **Reviews make these stories get written faster. They modavate me.**

 **I think I made up for how long this took to write by it being twice as long. Let me know if you prefer long chapters or fast chapters. Some chapters will need to be long regardless of your answer but those would be like climaxes and stuff.**

 **Background - Juno and Aura**

 **Juno does have a soul just like all living creatures. This means that she also has Aura and a Semblance. However her Aura levels are too small to be used practically meaning she can't make shields or power her Semblance so it may as well not exist. While this is obvious to scanner that her Aura levels are so small a scroll which measures a persentage of Aura used would see nothing wrong.**

 **If Juno were somehow able to get a lot more Aura (something which is hard to do mind you) then she could potentially use a semblance. However just like Jaune she would first need to learn what her semblance even is and none of her prior training would help with this.**

 **Another thing of note is how Aura interacts with Magic. While your Magic levels and Aura levels are independent of each other your Aura is used to control Mana. That means that while your Magic levels decide how much total energy you can output before needing to recharge somehow, your Aura decide how fast you can output it. This is why most people are not mage's and why Juno never learned how to cast spells dispite her proximity to skilled mage's and scientists.**


	5. Chapter 4

I need to improve my weaponry. I got up before everyone else as I am a light sleeper. No need to wake them I leave the room and look for a forge or something. Given that this was a school where everyone used home made weapons it would wake sense for there to be one.

I wander until I find a map and locate a forge on it. Sure enough it's there on the side of the building. I head over there with my Scythe to arm myself properly.

I~~~~~~I

The forge itself is well equipped for this stuff but it seems underused. Perhaps people almost always have their weapons done before they get here? In anycase I have what I need. Spacificaly I have welding equipment, Magnets, Wires and Electricity dust. Technically Magnets and wires are all you need to generate power but I need a steady flow of an exact amount so I look for an actual battery and something to control it's power output.

I attack bits of wire to the end of the Jerry rigged generator. Nothing permanent so it will fall off if I don't handle it properly. I turn it on and hear the crackling of a tazer. I turn the knob controlling the voltage until I hear the pitch slightly increase for a split second. I tune it until it stays like that and make note of where the knob is at.

Removing the wire I replace it with a sturdier single piece of wire and coat one end it Electric dust. When I turn it on there is a crackle at the end where the dust is of the same pitch as before. This time however there was a semi viable field of electricity surrounding it. To see what would happen I poke it with my finger. Seeing that the voltage still isn't high enough to hurt me I stick my whole hand in. No effect other than my hand being a bit tingly. Perfect! I've got a shroud!

I~~~~~~I

I got it! Finally! I installed shouds into my Scythe at the blade. At a flick of a newly installed switch I can make the Scythe aura piercing! I also added a setting on the safety that makes any bullets I fire get zapped making them have the same effect. So long as I remember to replace the dust from time to time it should be great!

Now! Onto the next projec-

My scroll rang so I answered it. Yang was calling me.

"RUBY WHERE ARE YOU!!!"

Oh ya. I was supposed to be asleep in the dorms. She's just mad that she couldn't find me. I need to get there quick.

"Don't worry I'm fine! I woke up early and couldn't fall back asleep so I took a self guided tour. I'll be right back!"

I run back the way I came. It shouldn't be too far but I didn't want her or anyone else from knowing about my upgrades. I couldn't stop Ozpin from knowing because of the cameras that were undoubtedly there. I'd need to find the building skimatics at some point to make sure of where it was safe to act. In the meantime I could slow down as I was at the dorms.

I see Yang standing there angrily. She runs at me and cocks her fist. She isn't planning on punching me, she's just going to pick me up by the face. I however had other plans. I duck under the swing and spin my legs to trip her backwards. I grab her outstretched arm with my right arm and pull her in for a headlock with my left.

"You've been getting sloppy Yang"

She smiles now that tension has been diffused.

"Well someone has been practicing. I know your semblance is speed but I haven't seen you change directions that fast without the help of your Scythe"

"... I'll ignore the fact that you accused me of being dependent on my Scythe. It's not like you aren't dependent on your Semblance for anything harder than a light scuffle"

I let go of her and we giggle as we walk back into the dorm room.

 _That was unexpected. But fun! ... I feel like there is something off about Ruby. She's never that good at hand to hand. There it was almost like she knew what I was going to do. Maybe I AM just getting sloppy? Well in that case I just need to try harder in practice!_

Well ok then. You do you Yang. No reason to suspect a psychopath body snatcher or anything. Given the whole semblance thing that might actually be something they have dealt with before. I'm going to need to be careful about that.

The other teams members were already up and unpacking. For some reason they were starting to screw up the beds to I quickly put them back.

"We want to decorate with the beds in mind! You guys do want to still have 4 beds when we are done right?"

They gave me a stink eye and went back to it. Wiess was secretly relieved however. I take a look at what I packed. It wasn't anything to decorate with. I had packed light.

Dispite that some people were unable to unpack all of their stuff due to not having enough space. Now that that's over I guess I'll head to classes. I need to be a student with good grades so they don't try to limit my movements for the purposes of studying and make-up work. I take a few steps and can feel I'm not being followed. Oh well, they will realize eventually. I keep walking to class without them.

I~~~~~~I

"Would anyone like to tell me the best way to deal with an Ursai?"

I raised my hand again. Me and Wiess always knew the answers to his questions immediately. Her because of her studious background and me because of a mix of experience and mind reading.

"Ruby?"

"Bait it to strike first. Dodge it and get behind and then strike it while circling until it dies."

"Very good Ms.Rose!"

I go back to not paying attention until his next question. Most of them seem simple to me but everyone else other than Wiess never seems to pay attention. Some of them just aren't paying attention or are sleeping. Those ones I get but some people simply don't know. How they don't know that this point makes no sense to me. Aren't they spacificaly training to fight these things? Anyways this class is so borring! The teacher just rambles on with pointless story's before asking a question to the crowd where only me and Wiess raise our hand.

"Who here has the strength of a true warrior?"

"Me!"

Again both me and Wiess responded. He selected Wiess however so I stopped paying attention. The class ended by the time she was done.

It was easy to coast by the classes on account of my abilities but it was after classes when the real test. Now where can I find Cinder again? Maybe Ozpin knows?

I~~~~~~I

 **It's surprisingly difficult to pace a story like this.**

 **Background - Blink Drive**

 **The most powerful tool the Apex Company has. It is a wormhole generator that lets the user teleport. The only known limitations are on how much stuff can be transferred at once and on the targeting system.**

 **Some large ships like the Apex HQ ship have large blink drives on them and some people have smaller versions imbedded in their head and controlled by implants. Not meny people have it installed like this. Juno was one of them but it didn't come with her when she was placed in Ruby's body. Jackson has one too as does Sarah. Those outside of the Apex Company don't know how the blink drive works and it isn't common knowledge that they have it in the first place.**

 **No Juno can't make a blink drive**


	6. Chapter 5

I had a plan on what to do. I knew I needed information and I didn't know where Cinder was but I DID know the location of someone much closer: Ozpin.

Step 1 was as simple as can be. I just needed to write a letter addressed to Ozpin. Nothing long or anything. I simply wrote Cinder plans to steal your Magic - Juno

Ozpin doesn't know who Juno is supposed to be so it won't connect to me. If someone from the Apex Company comes then this would make a good clue of where I am however.

Step 2 is a bit more different but still simple enough. Get the message to Ozpin without anyone knowing I gave it to him. Possablely using Blake?

Step 3 is the hardest part. I need to have Ozpin be in range of my mind reading when he reads the message. From there I can get what he thinks her plan is and go from there

I~~~~~~I

Step 1 - get message.

I grab a sheet of paper and write down the message. I make sure not to use my normal handwriting. There are letters in the library and I make sure I grab one that only has a simple seal identifing where it is from. I use a pen to change the symbol a bit and seal the letter.

Step 2 - Get the letter to Ozpin. I write another note this time addressed to Blake. Deliver this Note to Ozpins office after classes tomorrow. Don't let anyone see you. If the note it's delivered then ears wont be the only thing people hear about. Do as I say and your secrets are safe

I enter my dorm room and luckily no one is there other than me. I grab the book that Blake has been reading and slip the letter and the note with her bookmark.

I~~~~~~I

The next day. Classes were still as easy as last time. Blake had her mind on my message the whole time and couldn't focus. She was planning on following through with it and she wasn't suspecting me. That's very good!

I wait for her to go to his office. When she does I use my plan for step 3 - listening in.

Before she delivered the note I wrapped a long rope around the side of the building. She she want to deliver it I went over to a window that had part of the rope over it. The rope itself wasn't dangling or anything. I was actually using it as a small ledge to shuffle up. Since I had the ropes ends be as close as possible to Ozpins office the incline wasn't strap and I was able to make it to Ozpins office without any problems. I heard Blake enter and place the note. Ozpin wasn't in the room to see it but there was likely a camera that was.

About 10 minutes later Ozpin came in and saw the letter. I focused hard on his mind.

 _A letter? From who? The seal is messed up so it's not someone rich or anything. Well don't mind if I do!_

He opened the letter.

 _Cinder is after my magic! What! How did this "Juno" find out about my mage status! Or maybe that isn't what they ment._

His mind flashed to 2 locations. 1 of which was an underground basement containing a stasis pod with a girl in it. There was another empty pod right next to it.

The other location was of a boulder just outside of the school. There wasn't anything in particular that made it stand out. If you looked at it then you would think nothing of it making it an excellent place to hide something.

 _Maybe they are warning me that Cinder is going to go for the Maiden and the Relic! I'm still unsure of how they knew about the relics or of any plans this Cinder might have. Is Cinder working with Salem?_

I see an image of a Grimm with a Human form. Is she the one that uses the telepathic connection I sensed before?

 _If so that would explain how she knew about the Maiden's and the relics. Maybe Juno is a third party that has been spying on Salem and is trying to help me? While I appreciate new Ally's that does beg the question of why Juno wouldn't show themselves. I'll have to check the cameras to see who entered this room. That should tell me who it was._

I leave having gotten what I came for. I'll go for the Relic first. It's less likely to be guarded and more likely to be immediately useful. The Maiden sounds like a person. I slide back into the building. I leave the rope there for later use. Worst case scenario it gets taken down. Not a big deal.

I~~~~~~I

I told my teammates I was taking a walk. In reality I was looking for a shovel. I looked around outside for a gardening center. It wasn't locked so I went right in, there was a shovel easily accessible. I grab it and put it under my cloak.

The Relic is barriered somewhere close to a boulder outside of the class. I walk around until I find the boulder. It doesn't take long to find a boulder but it seemed that there was more than one. I took at least half an hour to find the right one but I eventually got it. I go to the exact angle he was picturing it from and started digging.

I~~~~~~I

Clink*

I hit a barrier but there was nothing there. That explains why there was no security here. Anyone trying what I am would be stopped by the barrier which is clearly magical. Good thing I came prepared!

I pull out my Scythe and turn on the shrouds. Stabbing it into the barrier I hear it shatter. Now I'm in business! I keep digging until I hit a simple box made of metal. I pick it up and open it to find a bracelet made of a similar material as the box. I immediately put it on. I wonder what it does? Maybe it give me super strength? Or possibly lets me teleport! Or who knows!?

Nothing is happening... Maybe it's because I lack the large Aura's of everyone around me? That would make sense. It could do something like doubling my Aura and I wouldn't notice because that isn't a large difference in absolute terms. Well I might as well take it anyway. It might stack with similar artifacts or have some hidden function that I wouldn't notice after 2 goddamn second of wearing it.

I fill in the whole with the box left inside and go back to the school. It's starting to get late and I can't afford to have people worrying about me. I put the shovel back where I found it and kept the bracelet on but high up my arm so it wouldn't be visible. When I got to my dorm I dropped right on my bed and fell asleep. I needed it.

I~~~~~~I

 **Progress - 10%**

 **I'm discontinuing the background segments for now. They will still happen but it will no longer be every chapter. Just for the record I do think that buried in a random spot underground qualifies as well hidden. I didn't think the show will actually do that however as it's TOO good. Juno only found it because the barrier covers an area and she knew an area it was probably in.**

 **If anyone is wondering the Beacon relic is the relic of power just like how the Haven relic is the relic of knowledge. I have planned out what the other 2 will be but won't say it now.**


	7. Interlude 2

Interlude 2:

Security Logs start:

Juno was lying in bed like we would expect her to. Sleeping no problem. We watched the whole video in shifts seeing nothing odd for almost the entire time until towards the end of the night. Her head suddenly lifted up as if it reduced in weight. Since her brain was missing this was where it was taken. I rewind to a few minutes earlier and watch closely. A small dot goes into her nose. A few more are visible as well. All of them go inside of her before she died. They never left.

Security Logs end.

I inspect Juno's body again. This time I open a whole in her skull and take out her Blink Drive. It looks different from the one she initially installed. It has more components mostly around the targeting system.

I carefully remove the targeting system. It's designed to be plugged into an adapter that can then be plugged into a computer. I get a laptop and said adapter. I start running a virtual machine on the laptop and disconnected it from my network, I wasn't talking any chances. Sure enough the second I plugged it in a program started looking through the files, sending them (it wouldn't get far without access to the network) and then deleting what it read. I quickly freeze the virtual machine and thus whatever was running on it. I copy the code onto a large text file and create an empty USB to store it on.

"Computer. Determine the function of this code. Do not let the code run no matter what."

Understood. Scanning...

While it was doing that I deleted that code from the machine and added a diagnostic tool to the machine. Running it would tell me what the targeting algorithm is designed to do. Hopefully it would have some kind of marker that would let me track down the person who did this.

Scan complete. The code is designed to go through a systems files. Send them to a nearby relay drone. Delete the files from the system and then have all of the relevant equipment self destruct.

Well then. I disabled it just in time. Looking at the diagnostics reveals that there is no digital signature. But it was reprogrammed to send you to a relative location. There were other parts of code in there that just gave error messages. Unfortunately that included that of the relay it was teleporting relative to. It must have self distructed. Maybe teleporting relitive to ourselves would bring us closer? It's definitely within a few light seconds.

"Computer. Teleport us reletive to ourselves to X: 38589, Y: 75600000, Z: 75839"

Charging.

I equip my pulsar gear. My pistol and anything else I might need in combat.

"SARAH! GET YOUR EQUIPMENT READY!"

"OK"

She shouts back to me and walks over now carrying her staff.

Charging complete.

The area disappeared around us as we reapeared at our destination. Unfortunately there were 100s of ships waiting for us with heavy weaponry. I changed our own ships weapons but it was clear this was a lossing battle if we attacked them directly.

"We're boarding them"

I grabbed onto Sarah and teleported onto one of thier ships. Our own ships exploded seconds after.

I~~~~~~I

 **Interlude chapters will always be much shorter. How much do you even care about the side plot with Jackson? It needs to be there but I can make it even less focused if you guys don't like it.**

 **Btw the charge time on the Blink drive is baised on the size of what's being teleported. That's why Jackson could teleport to the ship instantly but thier own ship has a lengthy charge time.**


	8. Chapter 6

After classes the next day I went back to the forge. This time for a new weapon entirely. I took a long steel cable with a hole in side. I put electric dust in the hole with the same concentration as before except at the tip. I weld a harpoon with a small razor sharp peice of metel sticking out the top. That part contains much more dust than the rest. The other end was attached to a metal bracelet (not the artifact. It was normal metal) along with a sufficiently powerful launching system. All I needed to do then was add a cover to the front and levers to activate it aaaand... Done! Now to make a second one for my other hand.

I~~~~~~I

I was back at my dorm with Yang. I was waiting for her to leave so I could properly examine the artifact. I'd do it somewhere else but then people would ask where I was and why. Since I didn't have an excuse that wouldn't sound suspicious to anyone who cared enough to ask I stayed here. Plus Yang was thinking about doing something so I knew I wasn't just wasting my time.

Suddenly (ish) I heard someone approaching the door.

 _Someone actually took the decoy! How did they know where it was!? How did they get past the barrier? Amber is still alive and in the pod so... Was Cinder able to get past it? She is partially a Maiden so that could be it_

It was Qrow. He was coming here because of the artifact it too- wait Decoy? OH SHIT! Who ever hid that must be very paranoid which means that this guy is very trustworthy.

More importantly it means that this decoy has a goddamn tracker in it! No wonder there wasn't any security there. Now what to do about getting him off my back?

The door opened and Qrow walked in.

"Qrow!?"

Yang was clearly surprised.

 _What is Uncle Qrow doing here?_

Oh that's our uncle. Well in that case.

"Uncle Qrow! What are you doing here at this time? Are you not on a mission?"

He chuckled.

"As much as I would love to talk I actually AM on a mission. Did you happen to see anyone in here by and chance?"

Yang answered before I could.

"Nope. Just us"

I was panicking internally. I knew Qrow wouldn't do anything that bad to me if he found out but I couldn't say the same about Ozpin. It's not that I was scared for my life or anything. If I got caught I could always just fight my way out. It would mean however that I would lose my advantage as an unknown.

 _It couldn't be Ruby or Yang now could it? I should try and make sure it isn't. I know they would never do something like this but maybe they could be tricked._

"Hey kids! Cou-"

There was an explosion that went off in the background. Not near enough to read the mind of the culprit but close enough to distract Qrow.

I get up, grab my Scythe and run out of the room. Yang follows me. We come up to a hole in the wall of a hallway.

"Yang. You see if he went down the hall. I'll check the outside!"

She nods and we go in the indicated directions. I immediately take of the decoy and toss it aside. With that taken care of I continue running after the bomber.

 _Kill a maiden who is thinking about you to get her power_

What the hell!? I'd be questioning who would randomly think that if it wasn't for one thing. One thing that made this the strangest thing I have ever dealt with.

That was my voice.

When I turn around to look at "myself" she was already gone. Did she have a blink drive? If so why did she even need to bomb anything? Did she already know I was about to get caught!? That should have been impossible. I would have sensed her presence the second she could find out.

I didn't know and that was dangerous. Even if it helped me there that didn't mean it always would.

I~~~~~~I

"So, none of you found the bomber?"

"No sir."

Me and Yang were giving our report of what just happened to Ozpin. I wasn't going to tell him about my doppelganger obviously so I just said that the bomber made a clean getaway. Yang was in no position to disagree.

"Unfortunately our cameras didn't pick up anything either. There was one there but it was taken out in the blast. The bomber must have came from above. If you find anyone capable of doing such a thing please inform me immediately. That is all."

We nod and leave the room through the elevator. The artifact is definitely in that spot. I most likely just need to dig deeper. There is also the matter with what my doppleganger told me. If that's true then I can actually take advantage of knowing Ambers location. Unfortunately it seems to be in a more secure location than the artifact is so I can't just waltz in and stab her, plus given things like the decoy Ozpin is more clever than I gave him credit for. This just got a lot harder for me.

I~~~~~~I

 **Progress: 0%**

 **This chapter was mainly there to show that Juno while Powerful is not infallible. It's also there to set up some plot points but I don't need to tell you that now do I?**

 **I do want to say now that I will not be making a habit out of bailing Juno out of trouble like that. If you are worried about a doppleganger swooping in every time then don't be. Plus who said that Juno was the only one with a helpful Doppelganger ;)**


	9. Chaprer 7

1 Week later:

Ruby Vs Pyrra

We were doing sparing. I had decided to lay low for a bit after the bombing incident. It didn't really effect classes that much because Glynda fixed the hole immediately. Speaking of which I have a fight in her class to win. I don't want to use my shrouds at all, better to leave it as a trump card. So the question is: How do I beat her semblance? The answer is simple: Hand to hand combat. Not only am I far better at it than I am at using a Scythe but her semblance can only stop my scythe and not my fist.

3...2...1... FIGHT!

Pyrra had her own plans to rush me at first so I immediately shoot her. It gets blocked but it puts her on the defensive. By the time her sheild comes down I'm already at her swinging my Scythe from above. She tries to dodge to the side while holding my Scythe still with her semblance so I simply let go and try to backhand her. She See's it in time and gets her arm up to block so I immediately follow up with a roundhouse kick to the side. It hits her since her arm was raised. With my grounded foot I do a front flip over her and bring her down by the head while she is still staggered from the kick.

Once down here I put her in a choke hold. Keeping her here would be risky so I should just finish this here. I bring her up while keeping the hold. She is clearly struggling so I know this will work. I toss her up slightly and trip her. Seeing my fist raising she puts her sheild in front of her. Like last time it was just a bait and I knee her in the back. I do another front flip to where she is landing and hit her head with the back of my heel.

Rupy wins!

I grab my Scythe and go back to see my team staring in awe. Yang especially since she has seen Ruby fight before. Pyrra had caught her breath and was walking up to me.

 _It's been awhile since I lost a fight. The last time was against a real hunter. I can see why she was accepted early. It would be a good idea to try and learn from her._

"That was impressive Ruby. How did you learn to fight so well?"

"My uncle Qrow taught me. He is a skilled Huntsman and personally trained me at signal."

Yang walked up to me. Right.. she knows Ruby should not be this good at hand to hand and that she would never throw away that Scythe like that. Shouldn't be that big of a deal, it's not like she suspects a bodysnatcher.

"You did amazing! Why didn't you tell me you had been practicing hand to hand?"

"I wanted to surprise you! I'm assuming I succeeded?"

She nodded while smiling at me. She was very proud of me. Pyrra however still had questions.

"So why did you let go of your Scythe and switch to hand to hand anyways?"

"To counter your semblance. I'd seen your torniment matches so I knew what I was dealing with going in and planned accordingly."

 _Wait. Is my semblance on record somewhere? That could be a problem. I prefer to have it as a hidden trump carp_

I leave her to that and sit back down on the bleachers for the next match. I really did look her up on the computer and found her matches. Her semblance was not recorded anywhere I could find like that. When I looked up Belladonna however I found out that her dad was the former leader of the white fang. This explained why she was so secretive although it isn't like hiding is the best reaction.

I~~~~~~I

After classes I decided to go into Vale. The schools forge had the equipment for weapons but not for any kind of armor. Unfortunately I didn't know my way around so it was taking time to find a place that could help me.

My eyes widened. Cinder was nearby, I could hear her mind nearby. I ran over to her location, slowing to a walk as I got close. She was at a dust shop. Considering that dust was what Torchwick was after and he worked for Cinder I'm not surprised.

"Hello Cinder! How have you been doing?"

She turns from the clerk she was robbing. The white fang members that were doing the actual robing turned too until Cinder gestured to them that she had it under control.

"Just what do you think your doing here?"

"Just trying to catch up with you! How has it been with the Maiden's?"

It may sound like I'm just giving away Information for no reason. In reality I'm trying to get her to think about her plan so I can get more information myself. The fact that she knows I'm in on it is barely relevant since I can just kill her if I want anyways.

 _HOW DOES SHE KNOW ABOUT THAT! She wasn't there at all. What else does she know! How!? Did Ozpin tell her? Does she know what happened to Amber too?_

Perfect! So Cinder took half of Amber's fall maiden powers before being stopped. Does that mean I need to kill them both to get it? Probably.

"Well it looks like you have it covered so I'll be on my way."

I turn to the exit but it sets on fire so I spin around.

"Haaaaaay... Rude"

Cinder fires a fireball at me and I jump over it gracefully.

"Your going to fight me? Please Cinder, I can beat you with my eyes closed. In fact!"

I walk over to the shopkeeper.

"Do you have a bandana or something?"

I nods hastily and pulls up a cloth that could work. I wrap it around my eyes and tie it so it's secure. I've fought using the eyes of my attackers before. It was a useful trick when fighting people with enhanced eyes in the dark. That is of course until Jackson took me in and I just got the damn enhancements myself. Damn I miss him, he's the only one that is both trustworthy AND sufficiently competent.

I put my hand Infront of me and gesture for her to come at me. With my other hand I get ready to pull out my Scythe, this time with the shrouds on. She fires more fireballs rapid fire. I deflect them all with the Scythe and fire at her. She puts her hand to deflect it with her Aura but it goes straight through it and hits her in the chest.

The white fang members there decided that Cinder needed some help. I get my scythe spinning and jump over the approaching group with the Scythe spinning at their necks. I land leaving a trail of decapitated corpses. God I miss using shrouds. I use sniper mode to finish off Cinder. She learned her lesson from two seconds ago and dodged the first shot. The next one however hit her straight in the head. The thing about mind reading is that you know where your opponent is trying to dodge and can plan your next shot accordingly.

Her now dead body fell to the ground. But what of her soul? My doppleganger said that killing a Maiden who was thinking about you would get you thier power. She was a half Maiden and she was definitely thinking about me there. Dispite that I didn't feel anything. I know I should feel something because I could tell when Sarah enchanted me. Everyone can feel magic being used on them so this can only mean one of two things. Either she somehow isn't dead or my doppleganger left something out. I let the blindfold fall of my face.

Just Incase I cut off Cinders head. No coming back from that. The other white fang members were too scared to attack after seeing how much damage I could do. That was good because if they all fired at once at least one of them would hit me. Unlike them I don't have Aura to protect me so I would end up like Cinder just did.

I walk out of the building. I've gotten all I could which wasn't really much. I was hoping to get Maiden powers but that wasn't happening. On my way out I pass by a green haired chick and her gray haired partner. They were pickpockets so I didn't let them touch me. They walk into the building and see the aftermath of my work.

"AAAAAAHHH"

Nope! I grapplehook to the top of the building and run off. I don't have time for this.

I~~~~~~I

 **I'll be honest with you guys. I just really wanted to wright a fight scene. But then again those are fun to read and if there is one thing everyone can agree on is that it's fun to see someone do something clever.**

 **Did you like it? Should I focus more on making more fights? Less?**

 **I could also use a Beta Reader. I always hate publishing something with typos and plot holes.**


	10. Chapter 8

I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. In a world where everyone has a powerful inate forcefield armor simply isn't being sold. Plenty of weapon shops and forges. However I already have access to a forge at Becon and I don't need more firepower for now. Seeing as what I am looking for isn't going to be found I head back to Becon. I was ready enough to make my next move.

I~~~~~~I

I checked where the camera was that was watching the artifact decoy I stole earlier. Luckily it never saw my face and apparently wasn't high quality enough to see the color of my cloak in the dark, this is likely due to its lack of use making it low priority to upgrade. It is probably in the same condition as when it was first installed. I would not expect the same inside the school proper and in the room where the maiden is kept.

However there is another more interesting fact I noticed. The perspective from the camera is the same as the flashback I saw from Ozpin to find it in the first place. This means 2 things:

1: Ozpin personally reviews the camera footage. I already knew this about other cameras so it's hardly a revelation

2: I know where the camera watching the maiden is

In otherwords I know where it's blind spots are and where it is looking. Just one problem. It is watching the entrance. Since they are still on alert from earlier there is no way they would think a camera going out would be a mistake, they would send someone to investigate immediately. Considering that he is here spacificaly for that reason the person they would send is obvious: Qrow Branwen.

Oh wait duh! I'm overcomplicating things. If I destroy the camera then Qrow will show up. So just let him come and then kill him. I have shrouded weapons so I can easily one shot him if he doesn't know where I am to start.

I head into the schools elevator with a plan in mind. First I see if there is a camera in the elevator itself, there isn't. I tell the elevator to head to the basement and ready my shot.

The second the door opens I've already fired my shot. The camera breaks in a satisfactory shatter. I quickly possition myself above the entrance, sniper at the ready, and wait.

I~~~~~~I

It doesn't take long for Qrow to show up as planned.

 _Huh I don't see anyone. Did they leave already? I doubt it. I'll need to be absolutely sure before I give the all clear to Ozpin._

I ready my shot. This room must be old because a rock fell and hit me on the head. Not to be deterred I-

"Ruby!? What are you doing here!?"

 _Why is Ruby hear of all people!? Well at least Ozpin knows who is responsible now. I'll have to bring her in for questioning. I don't understand why she would do this or even how she knows about this place. Regardless I we answers even if it hurts me to do it._

SHIT! He has a voice transmitter! I fire my first shot.

 _What the hell? Did Ruby just shoot me!? Why!?_

He dodged it. His instincts are good. Better than Cinders. He is clearly no slouch. I take my next shot to the same effect. He isn't doing anything besides dodging but we clearly aren't getting anywhere. I hop off my hiding spot to fight him in Melee combat.

I pull out my scythe and test his defense with some probing swings. He deflects them easily. There aren't any easily exploitable flaws in his technique and he isn't relying on his Aura or any semblance like Cinder was. Our blades lock as I try to rush him head on.

 _Is she possessed? Is that what's happening? That makes too much sense. Someone with some kind of mind control or possession semblance got to her and is making her do this. Maybe they were the same as whoever stole the decoy. Regardless I need to snap her out of it!_

"Ruby it's me! Its Qrow! You have to snap out of it! I know you are in there"

Heh. Hate to say it (not really) but there is no Ruby here. Maybe I can play this to my advantage though. Pretend that he's right?

He pushes me off him but doesn't follow up. He clearly doesn't want to attack me. Good, makes things easier for me. I fire another shot and immediately rush the spot he dodges towards. He is forced to jump backwards to avoid me... Right into my next shot.

At the last second he pulls up him sword and deflects the bullet. Thats bullshit. He can block bullets on reaction!? Enough of this. I let my eyes go wide and start to speak.

"Wha- where am I? How did I get here? Qrow? Are you ok!"

 _Oh thank God! It worked!_

Heh. Fool. He starts to walk up to me. I drop the scythe and start to walk up to him. He relaxes and starts to meet me in the middle.

"Ruby! You're ok! Come on lets-"

And then he fell over dead. The end of one of my grapple hooks sticking out of his head. After smashing the audio transmitter I walk up to the pod containing the fall maiden. I didn't recognize the second pods function but the first was obviously life support. Not knowing how they worked and not wanting to sit around and figure it out I simply shatter the glass and pullthe maiden out.

The result is subtle but instant as the maiden, Amber, regains consciousness. I make sure she can see me.

 _Ugh my head. Where am I? Who's that? What happened?_

"Hello there. My name is Juno Terra. It's nice to meet you"

He stares at me blankly. Clearly still out of it.

"Oh..."

 _Juno Terra? She seems nice enough I gue-_

And another grapple hook victim falls to the floor. Hopefully this one actually helping me achieve my goals. I walk back to the elevator to leave when it hits me. Someone ought to be coming to investigate Qrow's transmitter going out. They could really be here any second. I get an idea and grab my scythe and Qrow's body to take with me.

The elevator doors open, Ozpin and Glinda are waiting for me. They expected me to walk out, but they didn't expect Qrow.

"Help! He needs medical attention immediately!"

I hold him up for them to see and let him fall forward. Their eyes follow Qrows corpse intently. Neither of them see me fire my grapple hooks for the 3rd and 4rth assassinations of the day. Shrouded grapplehooks have been my assassination weapon of choice for years. Ruby's main weapon pales in comparison when it comes to close range takedowns. Sure the sniper is useful for long range, but the scythe form is just too large and clunky.

In anycase I stick all 3 body's into the elevator and walk away after closing it. Seeing as that's dealt with I focus on myself. I feel something that wasn't there before. The maidens magic is now within me. I smirk and walk away. Eager to test my new powers.

I~~~~~~I

 **I swear I'm not dead! I've rewritten this chapter far too many times and I'm still not entirely satisfied. However if the story is going to continue I need to post this eventually. So here we are. Please let me know what you think of this chapter. I'll try my absolute best to make sure the next chapter is done within 2 weeks of this one. If it isn't then yell at me in DMs, trust me that will work.**


	11. Chapter 9

"I assume you all know why you all have been gathered here today."

The others in the room nodded at James. Most of them were the Beacon professors, there was the chief of police here and Winter were there too. Mr.Oobleck was the one who decided to State the obvious

"You wanted to talk about the deaths of Ozpin, Qrow, Amber and Glynda if I had to guess."

Ironwood gravely nodded.

"Exactly. From the audio sent from Qrow before he died we know quite a bit. We know that Ruby was there and attacked him. We know that Qrow didn't think she was under her own control and that he tried to snap her out of it. We know he thought that he succeeded and that he obviously didn't as he died immediately afterwards"

Mr.Port stood up from his chair. Clearly agitated.

"With all to respect Ironwood. There is no way that Ruby could have killed Qrow. Even if she used deception to get his guard down there is no way he would put his aura down! He would have survived the sneek attack and continued fighting. There must be someone else involved!"

Winter gestured for him to sit back down and began to explain.

"Yes it would be a stretch on its own, chief Finswitch has additional information that makes Ruby preforming this alone more plausible. If you would?"

The man in question stood up and walked to the front.

"Thank you Ms.Shnee. Ealier today there was another dust robbery. This one caught on a security camera in the store. On it's own it wouldn't mean much but this one was different. I'll let the footage speak for itself."

He stood aside and played the video. It started normal enough with white fang members barging in and someone who was obviously in charge following. But then Ruby showed up. Everyone who hadn't already seen the video reacted when Ruby mentioned the maidens. But not nearly as much as when she casually deflected Cinders fireballs with a weapon that should not be capable of such a feet.

Everyone was in shock when the video ended with Cinder having been killed in 2 bullets and meny white fang members decapitated like it was nothing. The one thing in common besides death from Ruby? Their aura did nothing to protect them like it normally should.

Ironwood was the first to speak having already seen the footage.

"I'm sure you all can see what this video implies. Ruby both has a method of bypassing aura, knowledge of the Maidens and a disregard for life if the pile of dead fang members is any indication. And if the women she fought was the same as the one that drained Amber then it is clear why she acted now of all times."

Peter and Bartholomew both looked at each other at the news.

"What do you propose we do?"

Port said. Ironwood shook his head.

"There isn't much we can do on our own. She was skilled enough to beat Cinder and clever enough to fool Qrow and now that Amber is dead it is safe to assume she is now the Fall Maiden. The best course of action would be to have a large Hunter force to subdue her with."

Everyone at the tables murmured there agreement. It was clear what the next move was.

I~~~~~~I

After getting a new unfamiliar power the obvious next course of action is to test it. Luckily as a combat school there were plenty of places to practice using ability's. Some of them didn't even have cameras!

Activating the power was easy. That was the whole point of instinctual magic afterall. While it can't be taught you don't need to do the complicated mathmatics required for manual casting like what Sarah does. Unfortunately it also isn't freeform. Once activated it manifests itself in the form of fire. No matter how much I might want to I can't get it to be anything else. Not without specialized intensive training that I haven't had anyways.

Regardless I was here to find out what I CAN do and not just reaferm what I still can't. I could set my arm on fire without burning myself, cool. I could send it out like a flamethrower with a range of just 1 meter. I could concentrate it into a ball and throw it 9 meters away. Past that distance it shrinks and disappears on its own. I could also manipulate the fireballs trajectory however it still went out 1.5 seconds after being made. More importantly however I could create and sustain a fireball at 2 meters away making my effective range 11 meters.

My next test was to find a perfectly normal candle. It wasn't too hard to find one after a bit of looking in the dining hall. I lit it using a mundane match and then put my finger above it. Nothing happened, the finger was unharmed. I took out my scythe and activate the shroud. I repeated the test with the finger this time inside the shroud. I felt it start to hurt and pulled out the finger before any serious damage was dealt.

Of course to check exactly what I was protected against required more testing. A simple cut from a knife showed it wasn't everything. However a poke from activated electricity dust showed it wasn't just fire. After a test where I tried and failed to give myself rugburn made it clear that it was general heat immunity.

That was a useful thing to have obviously but more for utility purposes than for direct defence. Most attacks use bullets even here and there was no reason to think the immunity could not be overpowered by something with sufficient energy behind it. However it definitely ment that I wouldn't be burning myself with my own ability's and it also implied that I am indeed creating regular fire.

As a final test I created a fireball and held it within the 2 meter range in front of me. I twirled my scythe with the shrouds on behind me. Predictably nothing happened. Then I moved the scythe in between me and the ball. The fireball went out instantly. Without fuel an ordinary fire can't last.

Satisfied for now with my testing I return to my dorm and go to sleep.


	12. Interlude 3

Interlude 3

The flagship was down but all is not lost. The supply lines and technologies used to construct it still exist. We will rebuild it and recover. However before we could do that we needed to survive the here and now. We could of course just retreat, teleportat away to safety. However that risks losing Juno's killers and thus means that an enemy of Apex will survive to hurt us another day. We cannot let that happen. **They are so dead**.

I am on an enemy ship with Sarah. It isn't the only ship here, there are many others here too. They are likely of the same faction or at least temporary allies. Regardless we would need to destroy them all, however doing so from inside here is tricky, destroying a large ship requires a large energy reserve. While Sarah's personal energy reserve is larger than everyone else we have encountered there is still a limit to how much energy the Human body can hold without burning.

Regardless the REAL goal is to survive and keep the fleet here until our own fleet could arrive, at that means doing what little damage we CAN do.

"Sarah"

She looked up at me. Her eyes were wide from seeing our headquarters destroyed. She breathed in and let a blank expression overtake her face.

"Yes?"

"Fire a Beam into the center of this ship. I'll teleport us to the next ship."

"Understood"

She pointed her staff towards the ships center of mass. It was a common misconception that Sarah needed her staff to cast or that the staff enhanced the casting in some way. In reality the staff is a mental tool that makes it easier to direct her focus when preforming the required mathmatical calculations much like how some people draw in the air to help them think. It of course helps that you can also bludgeon someone with it if the need arises.

A beam shot out from the staffs tip and I teleported towards one of the other ship. The ship we just damaged would stay functioning of course, the beam wouldn't travel the whole distance of the ship and critical parts have redundancy, however it gets the crew scrambling and ensures that they don't just move on. Sarah charged another beam, I teleported us again, and again, and again.

Our fleet arrived. Hundreds of ships all of which launching drones who then attack the enemy. Finally we can start making progress. Movies would make you think that fighter ships with pilots are the ones who do the fighting. Rather drone operators control cheep partially automated drones from within bunkers on the edge of the battlefield. The enemy ships deployed drones of their own of course, only a fool would risk their expensive ships and crew when there is a more efficient solution available. Of course our ships used to control the drones are small so as to make transporting them faster. While teleporting a person takes less than a second the amount of time and energy required to teleport a room is much larger, an entire ship even more so.

The real battle had begun, but that doesn't mean we can just sit around and watch. While most of the enemy ships deployed drones the one that had shot down the HQ did not. Was that their flagship? One way to find out.

"Sarah. We are going"

I grab her and teleport onto the ship. We are standing in one of the hallways, there is a single set of footsteps. A man with a regal outfit steps out from behind the corner and spreads his arms out facing us.

"I see you've co-"

 **Bang!**

I immediately shoot him in the head. The hole reveals electronic parts, he was a robot. Who am I kidding of course he was. No idiot would present themselves to their enemy like that and an idiot would not have lasted this long against us. Of course an idiot would also not design something like that in the first place without any kind of plan, so what could that possibly... SHIT!

I throw my hands in front of me and activate my pulsar gear. A blast of force comes out right as the chest of the robot reveals a machine gun. The bullets get stopped by the blast, of course as newton predicted I got sent flying backwards as well. I use my other hand to send another force push in the opposite direction to stop my acceleration. Of course this doesn't actually slow me down at all, both pulsar fields are still active and they cancel each other out. Luckily I'm not going that fast in the first place, I simply land and slow down the old fashion way. Meanwhile Sarah gets to work on telekinetically disassembling the Robot so I get put down my defenses safely.

"That was close. The person who was piloting the robot is 3 meters below us. They were moving in the same way the Robot was" Sarah mentioned

"Good work. Lets go"

This time we teleport separately. Since we are moving to a prearranged location we are unlikely to get separated unlike before where that was a potential issue. We appear in a darkened room with a single man in it. The darkness wasn't an issue with our optical implants, it is safe to assume the same of the man. We start to charge at him before he can react to us appearing. His eyes widen in panic right as we get to him.

"Shit!"

The second we grab him the ship disappears around us and we reappear on a planet with an environment covered in snow. The man struggles in our grasp.

"Get off me!"

"Who are you people! Why did you attack Juno!" Sarah snapped

He started to stop struggling. Suddenly his arms popped off. Before either of us could do anything he had already teleported away.

"...alright then I guess lets go back to their ship."

I grab Sarah and try to teleport her back to where we just came from. We reappear still on the snowy planet.

"What the hell?"

I consult our coordinates. We were in the same place as where we left from. That teleport didn't send us anywhere in space. So where are we then?


End file.
